OLDSMAR, Fla. – Whiskey Decision finished a close fourth behind Destino d’Oro in the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Chad Brown believes she could have won with a cleaner trip.
On Saturday, at Tampa Bay Downs, Brown hopes for smoother sailing when Whiskey Decision again meets Destino d’Oro and six others in the Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes, a race Brown has won seven times.
As the college basketball season approaches its final stages, the battle for NCAA Tournament bids has intensified. While some teams have already secured their place in March Madness, others remain on the bubble, where every game carries enormous implications.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Blackout Time finished fourth in the Rebel in his first start since a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity in October at Keeneland. He likely will advance to the Arkansas Derby, according to his trainer, Kenny McPeek.
“I was pleased with his race for the most part,” McPeek said of the Rebel. “I thought that we pressed the pace a little bit and I think it was a pretty quick pace and I think that took a little steam out of him in the finish. We knew he was going to need the race, so look, I think for him to hang on for fourth, fine.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Litmus Test, a Southern California shipper who ran third in the Rebel Stakes, could return to Oaklawn for the Arkansas Derby, according to his trainer, Bob Baffert.
Litmus Test came into the Rebel off a win in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity. He broke from the rail Sunday after the scratch of the one-horse, Bravaro. Litmus Test set the pace to the stretch under Flavien Prat.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Plans for Rebel winner Class President are yet to be determined by his ownership and trainer Todd Pletcher, but the horse he edged, Silent Tactic, will continue on the Oaklawn Park road to the Kentucky Derby.
Class President shipped in from South Florida and was a nose winner of the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on Sunday. He battled with Silent Tactic in the stretch and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91, a career-high for the horse who races for WinStar Farm, First Go Racing, and CHC, Inc.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mentee launched his career in sensational fashion, setting a five-furlong track record at Aqueduct as a 2-year-old while defeating a future stakes winner, Colloquial, in the process. It was a fitting beginning for the younger brother of the four-time Grade 1 winner Fierceness.
Michael Trombetta plans on putting Lonesome Road and Maclean’s Rook in races at Colonial Downs next week, but doing so might require some careful thought. The 4-year-olds have risen through the ranks in remarkably similar fashion, but the trainer doesn’t want to see them face off any time soon.
“I will try to keep those horses separate, if at all possible,” Trombetta said.
Pay Billy, a two-time stakes winner who ran seventh in the Preakness last year, got back to his winning ways last Friday at Laurel Park. The 4-year-old colt notched his first victory in nearly a year in a $56,000 allowance, giving trainer Mike Gorham confidence in the path ahead.
“He’s definitely progressed in the last month or so,” Gorham said. “He was in a couple of tough races before, and he just seems to be getting better so far this year.”
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Randy Morse’s strong meet at Oaklawn Park has been highlighted by the performances of some of the barn’s sprinters. One of its very best, multiple stakes winner Asternia, will see action on Friday.
“She’s a pretty nice mare,” said Morse.
Asternia goes in the ninth race, a ratings handicap for older fillies and mares at six furlongs. The field of eight includes stakes winners Benedetta, Mo for Us, and Demidanu, as well as the sharp Filly Crystal.
WHO’S HOT
Commandment and Chief Wallabee threw it down in the Fountain of Youth and put their names atop the list of Derby contenders.
Commandment, who edged Chief Wallabee by a neck in the Fountain of Youth, won for the third straight time and both horses earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures (101-100). Commandment and Chief Wallabee, the latter making just his second career start in the Fountain of Youth, are now co-second choices on David Aragona’s line at 8-1. A rematch is likely in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, and won’t that be fun if it happens?
